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Friday, October 30, 2015

Back on the road with Soulfly, we often laugh about our wacky memories. Good ones, bad ones, they add up to the journey. Our kids have been there alongside the fans...all of us sharing Life together. Nearly-20-years-of-Soulfly-later, I still come across old photos. Some of the people here, some of them gone, but we all touched each other's lives.

Indigo session with Richard in the middle

Maxs vocal booth with his personal items and percussion drums

Nacao Zumbi drummers

Richard Kaplan (RIP) and the crew of Indigo Ranch Studio in Malibu, were there for the crash of Max with Sepultura and they were there for the birth of Soulfjy. They saw Max stroll through the storm and walk out unscathed. And Zyon and Igor just played. It was all natural evolution.

Friday, October 23, 2015

Fall break, Easter break, Christmas break, we missed so many national holidays, we made our own time for breaks and they usually came in between tours. Staying close was Max and my priority. Some people in the past got pissed when we had our own bus. They wanted the teen age agenda to last forever, but people grew up. We made a family and dammit, nothing would stop us from having both our careers and our family.

Grrrrr!!!

We could never structure vacations because something would always come up and our plans would change. Once Max and I had even sent our passports to the embassy to get visas to Tibet and of course something came along and it never happened. Instead, we travelled while on tour, and visited many castles, monuments and other tourist attractions in the mornings when everyone else was still sleeping.

Me,Max, Zyon and Igor

Me, Zyon, baby Igor, and Jason

Another remedy to our dilemma was to take short little vacations whenever we could. This ended up being the best solution to finding a small escape from 24/7 touring and working. One year we even went to Kurt Cobain's hometown of Aberdeen, to look for his roots! The kids loved these short jaunts and it kept us all close. On top of it all, it was always educational for them. Fun with a hidden twist!

Zyon, Rox, baby Igor, and Richie

So today, my Students, let's take break, as the year has been long and the miles pass under my feet like blacktop under a diesel...

Thursday, October 15, 2015

When Zyon was quite young, under a year old, him and I travelled to Israel with Sepultura to film a video for MTV. When Roadrunner chose the track Territory, I knew right where to go! I have always been interested in political situations around the world and what is happening globally, so naturally, I suggested to Max that we travel to the Holy Land to rock out. The centuries old, ancient battle for the sands of Jesus' time was, and still is, the desire of many to conquer and rule. What better place to take this track to? Max loved the idea and soon, off we went!

Me and Z , overlooking Jerusalem

The video production company was not happy to see a baby in the sweltering heat with a schedule from Hell, and did everything they could to force us to leave him in a hotel room. Knowing Max's addiction to his little mini-me, I would only just smile and jump in the van, Z in hand. Max would look at me with our all knowing gazes and we would just carry on!

Zyon with uncle Iggor

The day was great and I saw so many things I had only seen before in books or movies. We were taken to a lookout road on a mountain and from the ledge, we could see Jerusalem in all its glory! We never got a chance to go there because there was great conflict within its high walls at that time of Life. I filed it in my To-Do List and yes, Max and I did visit it many years later when we played with Ozzy in the Ben Gurian Park in Tel Aviv!The only problem throughout the day was when Zyon ran out of formula and water became scarce, while out in the desert filming. What did we do? Yes, I admit putting a wee bit of Pepsi in his bottle as we shielded ourselves from the sun under one of the settler's homes at the top of the Masada!

Bedouin man and his son

Sepultura with the Bedouins

We trucked on throughout the day, crossing sand dunes to sip tea with the Bedouins and ending with the salt of the Dead Sea burning the nicks on the band's legs. It was a brilliant experience, and I am very grateful to have seen such sites, in my career!

Friday, October 9, 2015

I have had a jampad at the airport for over 20 years. It has had a variety of Cavalera's and their tunes pass through its pages of history. Sepultura, Soufly, Nailbomb, Incite and Lody Kong...at some point in time, they all spit on a mic in those cement block walls. Gear has come and gear has gone...who the heck stole the Crate amps...I am still pissed about that!

Roy

Sepultura had 2 storage units. with unknown, mysterious renters in the space in-between the two. After the Chaos AD tour, we had our mummy sleeping sweetly in the dark cavern, snuggled with road cases. The manager of the property called me one morning, and said to haul ass down there because the property in the middle of the 2 Sep units was on fire. By the time we arrived, our mummy had succumbed to the fire, which was caused by a pot farm that caught on fire! RIP...the culprits escaped without a scratch thanks to the fake identity they used to rent the space.

Max's BC Rich

Because the location is a bit sketchy, I have seen weirdness in all shapes and sizes. One evening, during a Sep rehearsal, a gang wandered in the open door. We all held our breath a second and relaxed when they wandered back out. Another time, Jason Rainey, rhythm guitarist of Sacred Reich, and I pulled into a gas station and saw someone get stabbed in the abdomen. We high tailed it outta there!!Sacred Reich had a jam pad which was kitty corner from ours, for several years. It is now inhabited by our old friend, Bam Bam, the drummer of Jody Foster's Army, otherwise known as JFA. We run into him occasionally still.

JFA

Bands have come and gone through the complex. Parties have rocked the spaces and rain has flooded the doorway, seeping up to the bottoms of the Peavey cabinets, but we still can't let it go. In 1996, when we returned to the jam pad, a couple days after the fateful Brixton Academy show had been filed into the past, Max found the jam pad mysteriously empty and much of his gear gone missing. Since then, we have managed to fill it to the rafters again!! One day, I will see my vow to clear it out come true. And you will be the first to know!!

Friday, October 2, 2015

In the early '90's, when I was constructing my world dominance plans for two of my bands, Sacred Reich and Sepultura, I made a tour just for them called The New Titans on the Bloc Tour. We did a 2-3 month long US run and played a show in Venezuela. I think there was a Mexico date added, also. It was very successful, and broke the barriers for Sepultura, to be fully introduced into the US Metal scene., with a step up from clubs and into theaters Also on the bill was Sick of it All and Napalm Death.

Getting ready for tour

Biohazard

Sick Of It All

Sacred Reich (great mosh pit!)

In Allentown ,Pennsylvania, we had a bit of trouble with the crowd. Some mace got in the air of the pit and all hell broke lose! I found out later, it was sprayed by one of the crew dudes, just looking after his band.

Iggor and Andreas

Sepultura Arise Backdrop

Iggor on drums

Biohazard was on this show, as an added act. Great times!! I wont bore you with a repeat of my old lesson about this tour, but I will share sone photos from the archives...

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"This is my story...my Metal History, a salad tossed with my roots, my present life, the lives of my children and grandchildren. And ...the story must be and can only be written by those who lived it..." Gloria Cavalera